


The Non-Judging Breakfast Club

by brandnewsoul



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-01
Updated: 2011-06-01
Packaged: 2017-10-19 23:52:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/206563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandnewsoul/pseuds/brandnewsoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Have you been holding out on me, Ms. Jones?" Quinn and Mercedes talk at Nationals. (Spoilers for "New York")</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Non-Judging Breakfast Club

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this prompt](http://glee-fluff-meme.livejournal.com/4585.html?thread=5148905#t5148905) at glee_fluff_meme on LJ.

Quinn stands in front of the mirror in the ladies' room and smiles as she shakes her head from side to side. Rachel can go on for as long as she wants about how changing your look right before a performance is bad karma or whatever, but her hair looks great.

"You might end up with whiplash if you keep doing that," Mercedes teases from the next sink over.

"Thanks, Mom," Quinn says with a laugh. "Is it weird that I'm a little worried that Coach Sylvester will show up and yell at me for not being able to pull off a ponytail anymore?"

"That's not weird," Mercedes says as she shuts her compact. "That's called PSTD."

That statement's enough to send them both into a fit of genuine giggles. The members of New Directions have been able to be identified by the nervous laughter that they've collectively been unable to shake since breakfast. Quinn is relieved that this is the first time all day that she's laughed because something was funny and not because _oh God, this was Nationals and what if we bomb?_

"True, true," she says once she manages to stop laughing. "But you know what? Going to Nationals with the Cheerios wasn't as stressful as this is. Then it just seemed like a guarantee that we were going to win. But this…" She looks down and twists the silver ring on her right hand. "I don't know what to expect. It's kind of scary, like, I don't know, going out with someone new for the first time."

"Or just going out with someone for the first time _ever_ ," Mercedes says softly.

Quinn nods. "Yeah, just like…"

Wait.

There was something about the way that Mercedes said that, the emphasis on the _ever_ that's caught her off-guard. Quinn remembers the nights when she was still staying with the Joneses and sometimes she and Mercedes would stay up past lights-out talking. They'd had a lot of good conversations then and shared a lot of stories. Mercedes had told her about how she'd had a crush on Mike in fifth grade, and Quinn talked about how she used to put on her sister's tiaras and slip into her mother's high heels and pretend that she was Miss America. They shared their embarrassing celebrity crushes (Mercedes had been over the moon for Lance Bass from *NSYNC: "Recurring theme," she'd sighed) and their thoughts on the boys at school (they both agreed that Matt and Mike were cute, and Finn could range from total idiot to adorably puppy-like in only a matter of seconds), and other equally silly things that you tell your friends in the middle of the night when neither of you can sleep.

And even though they haven't stayed as close as they were when they were sharing a bedroom, Quinn still knows the cadences of Mercedes's voice, and how she would talk about how much she wanted to actually go on a real date with a boy. She still remembers her saying, _You don't think that's too old schooley, do you?_

 _No,_ Quinn had replied. _Sometimes that's better than anything else. Just someone wanting to go out with you._

"Have you been holding out on me, Ms. Jones?" she says as she carefully smooths down her bangs.

For a second, Mercedes looks surprised. "I—I was going to talk to you about that, actually." She sounds shy.

Now Quinn knows that something really _is_ going on, because Mercedes is rarely shy around her. "You met a guy," she breathes, and she claps her hands in excitement. "Oh my God, you _did_. Who is it? Where's he from? I know that everyone gets ridiculous if anyone dates the competition but I won't…"

"It's Sam."

Maybe it's just Quinn imagining things, but the name seems to echo in the room.

"I was scared to say anything about it to you," Mercedes admits. "'Cause you two were kind of close for a hot minute, and I know you just ended things with Finn and all, but I've seen _Mean Girls_ , okay, and I _know_ how things can get with—"

Quinn shakes her head, only this time not for the simple joy of feeling her newly shorn hair brush across her face. "No! It's fine, M. Really."

"Are you sure?" Mercedes sounds doubtful.

"Yes." Quinn had liked Sam, but she never liked him enough. Not enough to fully let go of Finn, or even to entirely let go of Puck. Sam deserves better than that, she thinks. He deserves someone who will like him enough, someone kind and funny and sweet, and Mercedes fits that bill. "How long, though?"

"Whoa, we only _just_ kissed the first time the other night—" Mercedes stops mid-sentence and glares at Quinn. "That's not funny!"

"Hey, I'm not the one with my mind in the gutter!" Quinn is laughing so hard that she lets out a snort. "Oh my God. I just meant how long have you guys been… going out, dating, _kissing_ , whatever, and why haven't you told anyone? I mean, all of us, we're the Non-Judging Breakfast Club." Only minus the backstabbing and Chuck Bass, of course.

"Yeah, but y'all are also _crazy_ dramatic. No offense." A smile crosses Mercedes's face. "Right now, we just kind of want to keep it quiet and see how it goes. I mean, you… One minute Sam was talking about the Na'vi and I'm just thinking, 'How is it possible for this dude to be any dorkier?' And then he's telling me I look beautiful at prom, and then it's like the dorkiness is kind of cute, and he's the only other person who thinks that we need to get Mr. Schue to let us do Bond themes at some point, 'cause I _know_ I could tear up 'Goldfinger' or 'Diamonds Are Forever'…" She looks at Quinn expectantly. "So, do you think you can…?"

"Of course," Quinn says as she hugs her friend. "It never leaves this room." She briefly wonders if any of the other girls from the other show choirs have stumbled in here and shared secrets or made confessions. She wonders if their teammates are having their own moments of sharing elsewhere, and if they've managed to overcome the small hurdle of trusting each other enough to not divulge anything told in confidence.

Either way, when they finish their set and Sam runs all the way across the stage to pull Mercedes into a hug, she has to fight the urge to intervene and say how happy she is that they're together.


End file.
